Every so often, while I screw around on Twitter, yes, I refuse to call it X still, or Facebook, or that toxic hell pit we call Reddit, I come across someone asking for advice on how to get into reviewing games and how to make videos, or even podcasting. Sometimes it is even a real-life friend, and I always felt weird answering these questions because who am I to give this advice? I have always been upfront about the fact that I don’t make my living doing this; this is my passion project, so to speak. I simply love gaming.
Lately, however, people in my life have been pointing out that while I don’t make a living doing what I do, I have come a long way for someone who does this as a hobby. 10 years ago, I was a guy reviewing games and movies I owned, and I wouldn’t send a company an email because I didn’t think anyone would ever send me even a small indie game. When I finally did, I was mostly ignored. When I wasn’t, I was told I didn’t have the viewers, or they didn’t know who I was, and good luck. Now I’m not exactly being sent AAA titles or anything, EA and Rockstar aren’t exactly kicking down my door to review their stuff. They don’t need to either.
I have gotten to review games like Disgaea from NIS America, all of them that have come out in the last like 8 or 9 years, actually. I got to work with Sega and review Two Point Hospital Review (PS4), in fact, some of the very same companies that once told me no, now send me emails asking me to cover their games.
So my first piece of advice in what I hope becomes a series of weekly advice posts is this. Stay the course, and measure success in your own terms in a reasonable way. Maybe it is getting your first review code, which you can’t get unless you ask. Maybe it is your first 100 views or your first 1000. Whatever it is, don’t let other people define it for you, or it will eat you alive, and you will fail. Remember, sometimes success is simply holding the line and taking a step forward while everyone else takes a step back. Feel free to drop a comment, hit me up on Twitter, or shoot me an email if you have a question about this, and I will do my best to help. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
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